Addendum
A/N: This story WAS finished. Honest. And then I woke one night in the wee hours, realizing that Lady Hermione of House Granger was now both businesswitch and government – this would create a certain conflict. This must be addressed! And then Mr. Dempsey took over …
-o-
The Granger Estate was well on its way – House Granger was quite wealthy, even excluding the spoils of war, well, attempted betrothal, that began Hermione's first vault. (And second.) She had accordingly begun planning for a House Estate where those under the House Granger protection would be able to live; but Hermione had run up against a conflict that brought everything to a screeching halt.
The Estate HAD to have a library!
Ancient Traditions Publishing couldn't ALLOW a library!
Hermione's basic genetic structure told her that every village should have a library, and therefore, a village sponsored by Hermione Granger should have the most expansive library she could possibly afford. It would help the vassals of House Granger raise their families, it would help the adults in House Granger in their professions and their jobs … so NOT providing a library would basically be intentional neglect! There HAD to be a library!
Ancient Traditions Publishing was making a respectable profit each year, as every homeschooled child was able to get fully indexed and accredited textbooks. But there was no legal protection for their work; copyright wasn't valid within the magical world, and Hermione had some qualms about introducing it – she had, after all, built her first business on wholesale copyright violation. With a quick gemino, all her profit would disappear, and she couldn't really afford to operate ATP at a loss.
Library? Or no library?
-o-
"This management meeting, for September 5, 2007, is going to address some significant issues, that will affect the future of each and every division. As usual, I will make the final decision, and I will be responsible for the outcome. No-one will be penalized for anything said, and I require your honesty and best judgement. Are well all on the same page?" Lady Granger shuffled her papers at the head of the boardroom table.
Attending were all her managers heading up her businesses, as well as Mr. Dempsey, who showed no signs of being the second richest person in Wizarding Britain. All indicated assent.
Hermione went over her quandary with her advisors, and, as usual, they broke into small conversations with their neighbors to discuss it. Sharon Latheham had opened her laptop and was running what Hermione thought were some business projections. Mr. Dempsey had leaned back in his chair to her right, and was staring at the ceiling with whatever running through his head.
Eventually, the managers had found their opinions, and Sharon led off. "I went through the last three years of sales and our next two years projections, and I believe that if we lower the price of each book to one sickle over the cost of materials, we can still keep ATP in the black. Our profits will be minimal, but we can keep on publishing and the company will be viable."
Hermione nodded, "Thank you. Next?"
The heads of her other businesses all agreed that lowering the prices would spur sales, but a few pointed out that a library in the wizarding world just encouraged copying – even without a library, their book on office spells and potions was copied hundreds of times each year. It was just something they had to put up with. Nobody even mentioned introducing copyright law, having reached the same uncomfortable realization that Lady Hermione had – they shouldn't propose laws that they knew they were going to break.
Mr. Dempsey waited until all the rest of the advisors had spoken, which made Hermione quite eager to hear his thoughts. If he had a good analysis, he would be one of the first to speak. When he had no idea, he would the first to admit it. It was only when he had come up with a bombshell that he waited to unveil his ideas.
This time did not disappoint.
"We are discussing establishing a library on the House Granger Estate. I would like to back up a moment to discuss the House Granger Estate itself. How much land do we need for the Estate, including a wild wood zone around it as buffer?"
Hermione knew this one off the top of her head. "About ten thousand acres. Twice that if we want to establish our own magical farms."
Mr. Dempsey nodded. "That's about sixteen square miles, at a minimum. And is there, anywhere in the UK, that much land that can be vanished from the notice of the non-magical population?"
Lady Hermione had to sit back from her expectant, engaged position and slumped. "Not that I can find."
"Precisely," agreed her right-hand man. "Which is why I suddenly thought we should expand in another direction."
Hermione sat back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling. She smothered a smile. Now she knew what he was driving at – but she also knew that he preferred to amp up the suspense for as long as he possibly could, so she helped him out a little. The rest of the people at the table were just puzzled.
"So how did you come up with this idea, Mr. Dempsey?" asked the boss.
"Three years ago, when you suggested that we all live in Muggle areas, I found myself with a phone, and cable TV … and internet service. I explored online, and I've been reading blogs and downloading books and video series. When Sharon mentioned keeping ATP 'in the black', it triggered a word association. I was leaning back in my chair," he paused, "and saw the moon through the skylight …" †
Hermione let her smile out.
"… I think we should set a goal to have a habitable, underground, magical, self-sufficient city on the moon in 5 years." The room erupted. "We can get there, we can build it, and we can defend it, yes?"
The room didn't calm down for several minutes, but eventually, Hermione was able to make herself heard. "Mr. Dempsey, your first order of business is to find yourself an assistant that can take over all your current assignments. You will head this project. Get me a timeline for development by the end of next week." He nodded, and the complete lack of smile on his face let Hermione know that he was very pleased; he so truly enjoyed the biggest of jobs. "For ecosystem development, contact Luna Lovegood and Lord Longbottom; I'm not sure if my name will help or not. But for general enchanting and insuring the magic, go to Gringott's and find Lord Harry Potter – I think he's working for bank security part time. My name should help a bit there. Aside from those three, nobody talks about this project until we're done."
As everybody began preparations to leave, Hermione realized – her dilemma hadn't been solved! "But what do we do about a library?"
"Oh, that?" Mr. Mannering-Phipps offhandedly said. A professional problem solver should have been the first out of the gate on this one, Hermione noted. Hermione non-verbally indicated that he should get on with it if he wanted his entrails to stay on the insides.
"Keep your Diagon shop, and open a huge ATP shop on the estate only for House Granger. The Estate shop would have every book we publish, would cheaply sell blank books for House members to make their own copies, and would have an extremely relaxed attitude toward browsing. Simple," he shrugged.
She blinked. It was simple.
-o-
The planned lunar city, Selene, never progressed beyond the initial excavation. The cavern spoil yielded a high percentage of iron and titanium, but that required a large amount of smelting to refine it for use, whereas ore on earth had a much higher concentration of metal, if less available. What the moon didn't have, was the ability to concentrate magic – any spell cast immediately dissipated into nothingness. A dead planet didn't have the ... underpinnings ... to keep magic coherent or viable.
Magical life couldn't survive there.
But there were other bodies in the solar system, and procedures pioneered for the Moon could easily be used elsewhere …
-o-
November 1, 2012
"We're heading for Veee-nus," Hermione sang, "And still we stand tall …" §
It was the launch party for their one spaceship – with a transport arch on it, it would only ever stop at a destination once. Given that it was never going to leave the solar system, a Muggle-born suggested that Janet was the only name they could possibly use, and after the reference twigged, Hermione agreed. ‡
Their launch party was severely annoying to Mr. Dempsey, as his boss and her enablers (as he thought of them) wouldn't stop singing that song. It might have had something to do with the open bar.
"… Cause maybe they've seen us …."
It may also have had something to do with their destination, but one particular inaccuracy in the lyrics irritated their Space Program director like nothing Hermione had ever seen.
"… With so many light years to go …"
Suddenly, the door flew open in a crash. "It's barely 4 light minutes!" Mr. Dempsey screamed. "Not even an AU!"
Hermione threw her head back in a full-throated laugh. "They're just stupid rock stars!"
"THAT'S NO EXCUSE!"
Being a Dark Lady has its fun moments …
† Mr. Dempsey was apparently a Browncoat.
‡ School House Rock owns the memes for a certain part of the population.
§ Europe sings The Final Countdown in this universe, too.